1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus for image communications using a computer network such as the Internet and a method for controlling the facsimile apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A facsimile apparatus using a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is generally used for communicating an image to a remote site. This type of facsimile apparatus is easy to operate and capable of sending a message to the other party even when he or she is absent. Therefore, it comes into widespread use in homes as well as in the field of business. The communication standard of the facsimile apparatus using a PSTN and an ISDN is recommended as a G3 standard and a G4 standard by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union).
The following are advantages of the above-described related art facsimile apparatus. Since a communication line is secured between a sending-side facsimile apparatus and a receiving-side facsimile apparatus, data can be transferred at the highest communication speed that is allowed by the bandwidth of the communication line. Since a user directly communicates with the other party, he or she can confirm whether the other party has received data with reliability. Since, moreover, capability negotiations are performed to confirm whether the format of data to be transmitted can be received at the receiving end, data can reliably be transmitted.
Communications services using the Internet in place of the conventional circuit switching network have become popular due to the widespread use of the Internet. If, in particular, a transmission distance is long and an amount of data to be transmitted is large, the costs of communications using the Internet can be decreased more than those of communications using the circuit switching network. For this reason, a so-called Internet facsimile apparatus having a function of transmitting/receiving an image via the Internet as well as functions of a conventional facsimile apparatus has made its appearance.
The Internet facsimile apparatus generally transmits image data via the Internet as an attached file of electronic mail. Since the receiving party is identified by a mail address, a user of the apparatus inputs the mail address to specify the receiving party.
In general, however, the number of digits of a mail address is larger than that of a telephone number, and the mail address is complicated. To designate a mail address therefore places a great burden on a user.
There is an Internet facsimile apparatus capable of registering mail addresses by abbreviated dialing. In this apparatus, a user need not input a mail address if it has been registered by abbreviated dialing, but the user has to input a mail address repeatedly if it is not registered. Consequently, when a user makes communication with the other party several times for a short time period without registering a mail address of the other party by abbreviated dialing, the user must designate the mail address each time he or she wishes to communicate with the other party.